- Joseph Balboa, 23, of Willmar, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, which was stayed, five years of probation, a $500 fine and 275 days in the county jail on a felony charge of receiving stolen property for possessing a stolen vehicle.

He was given credit for 161 days already served in jail and ordered to pay restitution, jointly with his co-defendant in the case, David Hernandez, 19, of Willmar.

Hernandez was sentenced April 1 to 90 days in jail, with 78 days stayed and credit for 12 days served, on a misdemeanor charge of driving while impaired. A felony charge of receiving stolen property, another impaired driving charge and an instruction permit violation charge were dismissed. He was also fined $500, ordered to serve one year of probation and to pay restitution in the case.

The charges were filed after Willmar police received a report of a stolen vehicle around 7:45 a.m. Oct. 28 along Ella Avenue. A 1994 Ford had been stolen during the early morning hours. The owner believed the keys to the car may have been in the vehicle.

Earlier that morning, around 12:20 a.m. a Kandiyohi County Sheriff's deputy had stopped the same vehicle along state Highway 23. The driver was identified as Hernandez and arrested for driving while impaired, and Balboa, the passenger, was given a ride to a Willmar residence.

Balboa claimed the car was his, that he was buying it from the owner and that he let Hernandez drive because his license was revoked. Balboa later met with an officer and claimed he didn't know the car was stolen, that he bought it from a man he didn't know for $200 and a promise to make payments. He said he didn't know the name of the man, but that he met him outside of a liquor store.

As part of a plea agreement, three additional charges of assault and domestic assault, plus a gross misdemeanor charge for interfering with a 911 call and a misdemeanor for domestic assault, will be dismissed. He will be sentenced May 8.

The charges were filed after Jan. 2, when Willmar police were called to a home in Regency Estates West on a domestic. A woman there said she had been asked by a neighbor to call police. Officers found a woman alone in a home, who said Torres had hit her in the head with a 40-ounce beer bottle and that she had hit him in the head with a utility light. Officers assessed the woman's condition and determined she needed to go to the hospital to get stitches for a 3-millimeter gash in her head. At the hospital, the woman said Torres had repeatedly grabbed her by her hair, punched her, choked her, smothered her with a pillow and kept her hostage inside the home so she could not seek help. She said he also smashed a telephone when she attempted to call for help.

- Michael James Nelson, 55, currently in the Minnesota Correction Facility at Faribault, was sentenced Wednesday to 13 months in prison and ordered to pay a $50 fine and $321 in restitution on a felony charge of receiving stolen property for possessing a stolen pickup.

He was given credit for 204 days already served and requested the execution of his sentence.

As part of a plea agreement, a misdemeanor charge of tampering with a motor vehicle will be dismissed.

The charges were filed after Willmar police were called Sept. 11 to investigate a suspicious abandoned pickup along Fourth Street Southwest in downtown Willmar. The 1978 Chevy had been reported stolen from Ortonville. Several citizens gave the description of the man they saw drive the vehicle.

On Oct. 26, a local clergyman was interviewed by the officer. He said he met Nelson at a coffee shop the day before the pickup was found and gave him money for a place to stay. He said Nelson said he bought the pickup in South Dakota. The vehicle wouldn't start for Nelson, and the pastor had helped him get a container of gas for it.

- Jesus Immanuel Molina, 21, of Willmar, made his first appearance Wednesday on a fifth-degree controlled substance charge for selling a informant a half-ounce of marijuana.

Unconditional bail was set at $15,000. Conditional bail was allowed on his personal recognizance. His next appearance is April 20.

According to the complaint, an informant for the CEE-VI Drug Task Force purchased a half-ounce of marijuana from a man identified as "Chewy" on July 10. The man was later identified as Molina.

- Victor Hugo Herrera, 30, of Austin, made his first appearance and pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony charge of aggravated forgery.

As part of a plea agreement, three additional felony charges for aggravated forgery will be dismissed. He will be sentenced April 24 and was ordered to be held until that date.

According to the complaint, on Monday, a Willmar police detective began investigating the identity of a person who had been arrested on a warrant and appeared in district court on a 2005 case with the name of Buck Barrera. A probation officer assigned to the case identified the man who appeared in court Monday as a different person than the man charged in that case.

A review of Department of Motor Vehicles photo identification showed that Barrera was someone else until 2005. In 2007, the photo on the identification was that of Herrera.

Herrera was interviewed at the county jail with the assistance of an interpreter. He identified himself as Herrera and gave an Austin address. However, a Quality Pork Processors ID card in his wallet was issued in the Barrera name with Herrera's phone.

He had signed several court documents and jail documents in the Barrera name after being arrested on a warrant during a traffic stop by a State Trooper. There is also hold placed on Herrera by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.